Chef Ana Garcia of La Villa Bonita Mexican Culinary Vacations (www.lavillabonita.com) invites you to her culinary life. Located in the mountain village of Tepoztlan, Morelos, Mexico, Chef Ana teaches everyone from the food hobbyist to professional chefs in her 4 and 7 night culinary vacation packages. This blog is a slice of her daily life. Mexican food, culture, and a bit of everything.

Thursday, May 31, 2012

What makes Tepoztlán so different?

Money Can’t Buy You Love. In Tepoztlan, money doesn’t get you very much as far as respect is concerned. Your position in the community, your standing with your
neighbors and your barrio is everything.
Do you contribute to the local festivals? Do you lend a hand to a neighbor? Are you involved? I can’t tell you how many examples of people who have come to Tepoztlán
thinking that money will get results.
That isn’t the case. It is what
you do that counts, not what you have.

Buy Local. There
are very few non-local businesses here.
Apart from two banks, there are no franchises, department stores or big
supermarkets. As well, there are no big
hotels, no golf courses (will get to that in a minute), and no big box stores. People wouldn’t support them and the town
wouldn't allow it. That makes
things a little expensive here, but people are willing to pay the price to support
local businesses. Moreover, the daily
market and the Sunday/Wednesday farmers market is a big attraction and a
local staple in the economy. People have engaged in buying local here as a way of life long before it was considered fashionable.

Someone to Watch Over Me. About 20 years ago or so, there was a planned condominium golf course community to
be constructed close to Tepoztlán in the National Forrest Preserve. The
town was vehemently against it. It was
believed that there would be a tax on the water table, chemical runoff, lots of
outsiders, and tons of maid and gardener jobs.
The town basically said, "we like our life as it is" and began manning a blockade to earth-moving
equipment for a couple of years. The
mayor was brushed aside. The barrios
took over the town to provide essential services such as security. This caused citizens to take up the duty of
monitoring their neighborhoods and keeping an eye out, making sure that things
were safe. The golf course development
project came and went. This community
activism saved the town and put in place a sense of responsibility for
your own neighborhood/barrio.

Contentment. This is important. Contentment is everything in life, right? This is still
primarily a subsistence farming community.
People produce for their own consumption on a plot of land outside of
the valley and sell or barter the rest in the local market or among friends and relatives. Many people have a local “tourism-related”
business that they operate on the weekends when Tepoztlán receives its normal
flow of guests. If you have a roof over
your head, enough food to eat, a nice and safe community to raise your kids,
and a beautiful backdrop to your city, you can’t really ask for much more. People are content here.

Sense of Community.
It grows on you. Recycling
has been in effect for decades and is almost obligatory with the snide look the non-recyclable garbage guys gives you when you have too much trash. Daily people sweep their stoop in front of their house where through the hard work of members of the barrio streets are constructed and maintained. Tepoztecos are involved in various projects
to support the community but also just lending a hand to a neighbor when for example he is adding a second story to his house. After being here for a while you want to contribute as others do. It is infectious. Robb was inspired to contribute and started the first little league baseball team here to offer kids a positive activity and many others offer the same type of service to the community. As well,
you are constantly enveloped in the sounds of the community – the rooster
crowing, the newspaper headlines announced over the loudspeaker, the church broadcasting
mass, next door neighbor kid practicing his trombone for the local children’s
orchestra. The community web around you is
palpable and part of what makes it an enjoyable place to visit and live.

Adherence to Tradition.
If you don’t appreciate religious processions, fireworks day and night, an
occasional traffic inconvenience, and lots of celebrations, Tepoztlán is not the
place for you. There is a something
going on literally every week or weekend in this festive town. Sometimes (but not always) non-Tepozteco Mexicans
see the strict adherence to local customs as inconvenient or backwards. Yet this is the glue that keeps the community together.As a result, locals are a little suspicious of other
non-Tepozteco Mexicans, but do appreciate foreign tourists. It is thought that foreign tourists visit Tepoztlán
because they appreciate the local customs, traditions, and festivals. As a result people are very nice and courteous to you as a
guest in town.

I am reminded of the slogan for Austin, Texas –
“Keep Austin Weird.” You want to keep
what makes your community unique and Tepoztlán does this very well. It is different than any place you
will visit in Mexico. These elements
taken together as a whole certainly make Tepoztlan safe but also a very
authentic and wonderful place to visit.